THIS IS THE ARCHIThe following production of work was created during the 2019-2020 semesters of the M.arch 2 program at the Southern California Institute of Architecture was curated during the summer of 2020 in the Arts District of Los Angeles.
TECTURE PORTFOLIO OF KYLE BALSTER
2019-2020 Architecture Portfolio
KYLE BALSTER balster39@gmail.com (920) 840 1007 Los Angeles, CA, USA Social Media Instagram: Linkedin: Vimeo: Issuu:
@kylebalster @Kyle Balster @Kyle Balster @Kyle Balster
THIS IS THE ARCHIThe following production of work was created during the 2019-2020 semesters of the M.arch 2 program at the Southern California Institute of Architecture was curated during the summer of 2020 in the Arts District of Los Angeles.
TECTURE PORTFOLIO OF KYLE BALSTER
STATEMENT Kyle Balster is a developing architect and architecture visualizer pursuing his Master’s degree at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in the Arts District, Los Angeles. Growing up on a farm in rural Wisconsin, I learned the importance of hard work and persistence. I take these life lessons with me in all that I do in life, especially architectural design. Prior to SCI-Arc, he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture degree with a minor in sustainability at the University of Minnesota -Twin Cities. There he gained a well-versed understanding of architectural tectonics and the
pragmatic side of the industry. In Minneapolis, he also worked as an Architectural Intern for the Data-Driven Design team within HDR. Here he strengthened his skills within data analytics and its real-world application to spatial configurations. While at SCI-Arc, Kyle aims to strengthen the architectural visualization side of his repertoire by learning new programs, methods of creating, and means of practicing. After graduating, he hopes to utilize the skills he learned at SCI-Arc in a professional setting in architecture and applied and theoretical arts.
2GBX STUDIO SPRING 2020 09
DS1201 2GAX Design Studio - Le Musée Imaginaire (In)flux
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VS 4201 Visual Studies I - Out of Context Synthetic Armature / Ghostly Dimension
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HT2201 Theories of Contemporary Architecture II Ownership of the Post-Digital
2GAX STUDIO FALL 2019 53 58
DS1200 2GAX Design Studio - After Images Grounding in Character Divisional Collaboration
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VS 4200 Visual Studies I - Slice It! Operation of Contours The Retro Kaleidoscope
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AS3200 Advanced Materials and Tectonics L.U.M.A. Arles Reimagined
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HT2200 Theories of Contemporary Architecture I Technological Architecture Evolution within World Making
MISCELLANEOUS
2018 - PRESENT 107
Introduction of Digital Design (IDD) The House of Hyper Pop
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Personal Work Photography
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LE MUSÉE IMAGINAIRE
(IN)FLUX
Class: Semester: Instructor: Collaborator:
2GBX (DS1201) Spring 2020 Damjan Jovanovic Jordan Scheuermann
(In)flux, described as the arrival or entry of large numbers of people or things, plays a role in the continuous movement, circulation, and ebb and flow of the contemporary museum. The Museum of the Future is a building composed of three distinct parts: a subterranean high-density storage facility, a public synthetic landscape, and a floating sculptural interior engulfed by a digital aggregate. Each of these pieces holds very distinctive characteristics and affect the visitor’s experience in different ways. The tiered strategy of division into three parts was dictated through a study of data centers and mass storage facilities today. With an emphasis on the exclusion of humans in order to heighten
optimization, the Museum of the Future pulls from the harsh distinction of human spaces versus machine spaces. Leaning on concepts from ‘The Cut’ as well as the ‘Katamari Damacy’ these different spaces are able to be created with the intent for their purpose. The programmatic division lends itself to an increase in optimization while also creating ‘in-between’ worlds such as the synthetic landscape which straddle the delineation of human and machine and offer incredible experiences. Overall, the Museum of the Future aims to break down the present conception of what a museum has to be, and allow a nonhierarchical, digital representative to take its place.
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SYNTHETIC LANDSCAPE Located underneath the digital aggregate is the synthetic landscape, a place in which the natural aspects of the Southern Californian landscape merge with the digital aspects of (In)flux. The landscape obscures the boundary between the familiar and unfamiliar, natural and synthetic, order and disorder, and the digital and physical. The natural, overgrown
landscape contends with the fragments of the exterior aggregate that have come to rest inside. Fraying the boundary between interior and exterior to create a space that is neither and both. These displaced objects seem to be simultaneously foreign and native, at times obtrusive and at other times congruous, coming to rest beneath the building.
Exterior perspective view of the building highlighting the digital aspects of the exterior aggregate
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Synthetic landscape located underneath the aggregate which combines the synthetic aggregate with nature
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DS1201 - (In)flux
Pull-apart axonometric diagram highlighting the different parts of (In)flux which all come together to create the functioning building as a whole
Storage Infrastructure Modular Crate Storage System Forklift Railway
Circulation Infrastructure Floating Pathways Intermittent Garden Pads Interior Floorplates
Large Aggregate Galleries Theaters Retail Storage Office
Site Topography
“A museum without walls has been opened to us, and it will carry infinitely farther that limited revelation of the world of art which the real museums offer is within their walls: in answer to their appeal, the plastic arts have produced their printing press.� Excerpt from DS1201 GBX Design 2020 Studio Syllabus by Andre Malraux & The Antagonist (1967)
Circulation Staircase Synthetic Landscape
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DS1201 - (In)flux
SURPASSING CONTEMPORARY GALLERIES The different gallery types located within (In)flux offer a complete user experience. A normative gallery type offers the contemporary method of viewing artwork, through the threedimensional space viewing museum objects. An immersive gallery type offers internet-like access for visitors to access the L.A.C.M.A. collection. Overwhelming access that can
be voice-controlled to siphon a search to a desirable end. A natural intermediate gallery type brings the synthetic landscape up into the building in the form of floating gardens, where visitors can experience artwork from an entirely new perspective. Overall, this range in gallery types is created in order to surpass the existing contemporary condition of media viewing.
Gallery chunk model illustrating three different gallery types located along the circulation infrastructure
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Interior perspectival view of normative gallery type showing three-dimensional museum object artwork
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Intermediate level gallery between synthetic nature, immersive galleries, and normative galleries
“...Somewhere a portion of contemporary art has to exist as an example of what the art and its context were meant to be. Somewhere, just as the platinum-iridium meter guarantees the tape measure, a strict measure must exist for the art of this time and place.� Excerpt from DS1201 GBX Design 2020 Studio Syllabus by Donald Judd (1963)
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Fully immersive gallery environment with internet-like access to the L.A.C.M.A. collection
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DS1201 - (In)flux
MULTI-MEDIUM THEATERS Programmed theatrical spaces offer another platform on viewing artists’ work. Located within the building, there are two, doubleheight theaters that offer a wide range of performance options. With openings facing the digital aggregate, these spaces utilize the building’s breakage from the contemporary as a backdrop for future performances. Liked into
the circulation infrastructure, the theaters offer an experience with the floating gardens while being nearby the performances happening inside. Located along the divide between a contemporary program and an inventive space, the theaters offer an appeal of the familiar while opening its visitor’s eyes to the possibilities of (In)flux.
Chunk model of a theater linked with circulation infrastructure and floating gardens nearby
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Exterior perspectival view highlighting the circulation infrastructure outside the theater
Interior perspectival view of theater illustrating juxtaposition between interiors and exterior aggregate
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DS1201 - (In)flux
HYPER-CARTESIAN STORAGE Pulling form the development of autonomous storage facilities being implemented in the warehouses and libraries of the present, (In)flux aims to revolutionize the capabilities of storing the L.A.C.M.A. collection. Through a system of rails located beneath the human circulation infrastructure, reversed forklifts carry artwork from the storage facility to the needed gallery
location or visa versus. The hyper-cartesian storage facility is fit within two hollowed large aggregate shapes, which then have robotic arms to aid in the transition from the forklift to the storage box. Overall, the storage facility aims to increase the overall capacity of the museum’s storage means and collection size through the inclusion of autonomous means.
Chunk Diagram highlighting the hyper-cartesian storage facility along with the immediate circulation
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Perspectival view peering into the storage facility illustrating the autonomous aspects of the infrastructure
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DS1201 - (In)flux
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North facing elevation illustrating the horizontality and randomness of the synthetic aggregate in contrast to the site’s normative nature context.
“The museum director Michael Govan and I have long agreed on this new order. LACMA is an encyclopedic museum, an asylum for homeless objects, with 135,000 objects that came together by accident: furniture, clothes, stone sculptures” Excerpt from DS1201 GBX Design 2020 Studio Syllabus by Peter Zumthor (2019)
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DS1201 - (In)flux
3. 1.4
1.1 1.3
3. 6.
2.
6.
1.3 3.
5. 4.
First-floor plan illustrating the relationship between the hollowed aggregate and the interior floorplates
Programmatic Breakdown 1. Gallery 1.1 Immersive Gallery 1.2 Landscape Gallery 1.3 Normative Gallery 1.4 Intermediate Gallery 2. Theater 3. Retail 4. Office 5. Classroom 6. Storage
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1.4 1.1 4.
1.3
6. 1.2
2.
1.4 4.
Fourth-floor plan illustrating the centralized condition of the storage facilities to the programmed aggregate
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DS1201 - (In)flux
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OUT OF CONTEXT
SYNTHETIC ARMATURE-GHOSTLY DIMENSION Class: Semester: Instructor: Collaborators:
Visual Studies II (VS4201) Fall 2020 Angelica Lorenzi James Piccone
Synthetic Armature/Ghostly Dimension acts as the lovechild between Frederick Heyman’s “Virtual Embalmings” and architect Le Corbusier to investigate opposing scale perspectives: infinite synthetics and dimensional humanism. In order to uncover relationships between synthetics and nature; body, space, and time; and human and nonhuman, a conversation was created within the modeled environment of Synthetic Armature/ Ghostly Dimension. “Virtual Embalmings’’ is a two-dimensional description of the interplay between nature and technology as well as the human scalability of spaces. This production is brought into three-dimensional space within Synthetic Armature/Ghostly Dimension. On the first floor, a forced-perspective distortion of Le Corbusier’s Firminy Church acts as
an armature into a vast and endless world, unscalable to the human body. As the player progresses up the floor of the structure, they fall through a shaft at the top and into the ghostly dimension below: a bizarre, maze-like reinterpretation of the church’s lower levels with rooms and spaces that synthesize the scale of the human body; Corbusian relics, cloning technology, and displaced elements of nature. As the player navigates deeper into the game, they are constantly washed over with elements of technology and nature, life and death, old and new. At the point of culmination, the character finds themselves in the same room that they initially fell into, but on a lower level, and fully consumed by technology and nature with a final homage to the architect Le Corbusier.
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PROJECT MOOD BOARD PRECEDENTS While laying out a mood board to act as a precedent for the Visual Studies project, we stumbled across artist Fredrik Heyman. Creating short films with an ‘in-your-face’ stylistic approach, a similar approach was taken with “Synthetic Armature/Ghostly Dimension”. Researching specific projects gave insight into usable elements for the project. ‘Dust’ (top
two images) was a project that dealt more with technology and bodily interaction while ‘Virtual Embalming’ was more involved with the relationship between nature and the body. Entering the architectural realm, the focus architect Le Corbusier placed on human space was of importance.
Elevational view of ‘Synthetic Armature’ highlighting the forced one-point perspective
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Single images from projects ‘Dust’ and ‘Virtual Embalming’ by artist Fredrik Heyman (fredrikheyman.com)
“The following virtual memorials were curated by their subjects. They were asked the question: “How do you want to be remembered in the future?” These installations overcome time and space, in which physical presence is no longer relevant. A digital remembrance as a document for the future.” Excerpt from fredrikheyman.com for ‘Virtual Embalming’
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Pull-apart diagram illustrating the differences between the ‘Synthetic Armature’ front-of-house and ‘Ghostly Dimesnion’ back-of-house
Synthetic Armature Level 1 Distorted 1-point Perspective Friminy Church
Ghostly Dimension Le Corbusier Studio Room Level -1
Sunken Domino House
Sunken Villa Savoye
‘End-of-maze’ Room Level -2
Sunken Ronchamp
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Exterior perspective of ‘Sytnetic Armature’ illustrating the distortion created through the forced one-point perspective modeling
“Heyman explores the desire to overcome humanity. Technology and the human body are the protagonists. His imagery, whether based on fact or fiction, ask us how we want to remember.” Excerpt from fredrikheyman.com
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VS4201 - Synthetic Armature-Ghostly Dimension
SYNTHETIC ARMATURE / GHOSTLY DIMENSION
Overall, the direction of the animation is based on the first-person -- video game -perspective. After a simple grounding ‘dolly’ shot the viewer is then overwhelmed with the loading screen, waiting to enter the videogame. Once finished, the viewer is thrown onto a
surreal tile plane, surrounded by an endless amount of rough seas. After stumbling around this plane, the character finds the entry to a lower level. Peering over the edge, you fall in, and wake up in the studio of architect Le Corbusier.
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VS4201 - Synthetic Armature-Ghostly Dimension
Scene still from within the drop point into the back-of-house ‘Ghostly Dimension’
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Scene still at the end of maze point, focusing on the ominously placed Le Corbusier glasses
Scene still from within the maze, focusing on the technological objects framed with juxtaposed natural elements
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VS4201 - Synthetic Armature-Ghostly Dimension
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https://tobloef.com/fun/glitch-art
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THEORIES OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE II
OWNERSHIP OF THE POST-DIGITAL Class: Semester: Instructors:
Theories of Contemporary Architecture II (HT2201) Spring 2020 Marcelyn Gow John Cooper Erik Ghenoiu
ABSTRACT Misconceptions of the delineation between digital and postdigital have unknowingly given creators full authorship of their work while they plagiarize an invisible author. This plagiarism has been exposed through the recent troubles that collection organizations have experienced attempting to collect the artwork of the digital era. By placing interest in the apparatus of creation, visualization, and presentation, ownership can be given back to the digital – an equal player in the creation of modern-day digital media. Examining and dissecting the difference between digital and post-digital illustrates how there is a lack of ownership in the present
day. Designers find themselves today in a world affected by the rise of the Digital Era, Information Age, and now amid the Post-Digital movement. The events that have occurred allow for the creation of the post-digital. The post-digital is a movement encouraging the contemplation and examination of the digital. This examination allows for a deeper understanding of the stance that the post-digital movement holds and how it affects the world we live in today. The most prevalent effect is the recognizability of the uncited player in the work of the present. There is a need for a revolution of the present copyright system to give proper authorship and ownership to the digital.
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HT2201 - Ownership of the Post-Digital
OWNERSHIP OF THE POST-DIGITAL
EXPOSING THE MISCONCEPTION. The terms digital and post-digital, while seemingly synonymous, are two very different theories. Historically, computers were brought into the forefront of design in the early twentyfirst century - marking the first exposure creatives had with the digital. Where digital can be simplified to a date in time, the postdigital cannot be limited to an era; therefore, “does not imply a time after or beyond the digital; rather, it called for an examination and evolution of what we have known as “the digital” to data.”1, 2 Veering away from the digital, the post-digital movement has grown in popularity in recent years for both design and architecture. This movement aims to stir up new dialogue and conversation around the fading discourse created from the digital era. Looking into the perspective of the postdigital movement, we can see a relation to the dialogue between system-oriented and object-oriented ontology. This dialogue is concerning the different points of view on the needed level of importance; on the object itself or the relationship between objects. Through the rise of cybernetics in the 1930s
Jack Burnham introduced “‘systems aesthetics’, a theory relating to the art and cultural production to the logic of systems.”3 During the rise in computer usage in architecture and design studio in the 1990s, pioneered by architect Greg Lynn, a large focus was placed on the inner relationships between two things – a transition from an ‘objectoriented’’ perspective to a ‘system-oriented’ idea of culture.4, 5 Opposing this absolute method of thinking is David Ruy, architect and professor, who states that “[t]he grand finale of architecture’s practice unintentionally becomes subsumed by ecological practice.”6 The takeaway from these two movements and their battle is the placement of postdigital concerning both. Post-digital, rather than being placed on one side or the other, is found intertwined within both; understandably influenced and evolved from their surroundings while existing as single objects, influenced by who and what they are. Taken along through the historical journey of the recent past are the artists, creators,
1 Florian Cramer, Postdigital Aesthetics: Art Computation and Design (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 14.
4 Greg Lynn, Animate Form (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999).
2 Mark Foster Gage, Aesthetics Equals Politics: New Discourses across Art, Architecture, and Philosophy (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2019) 103.
5 Mark Foster Gage, 107.
3 Mark Foster Gage, Aesthetics Equals Politics: New Discourses across Art, Architecture, and Philosophy, 107.
6 David Ruy, “Returning to (Strange) Objects,” Tarp (Spring 2012): 38-42
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“Post-digital does not imply a time after or beyond the digital; rather, it called for an examination and evolution of what we have known as “the digital.” Excerpt from “Postdigital Aesthetic: Art, Computation, and Design” by Florian Cramer
Image Objects [2011-present] (http://artievierkant.com/imageobjects.php)
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and architects that are now working within the post-digital medium. An example of post-digital artwork is created by artist Artie Vierkant titled “Image Object”.7 This sculpture works to flatten the delineation between original and copy, from a binary relationship to a more fluid one. His work combines a three-dimensional sculptural form with a skin that is created from pictures of the original. A sculpture that is an original and a copy simultaneously, in essence, create a new original altogether. The work offers insight into the realm of authorship and ownership through the vehicle of copying. Vierkant plays with the idea of originality and copy multiple times in his work and illustrates the dire need to understand the difference and necessities in presenting work in this period. Looking back into the history of the term ‘copy’, evidence of the current lack in ownership may arise hinting at the reasoning behind the predicament we face.
HT2201 - Ownership of the Post-Digital
the creation of the modern-day copyright happened in 1710 after the passing of the Statute of Anne, which disassembled the current monopolies that were being created previously. Throughout time, the concept of copyright has been modified and updated under multiple instances – in 1831, 1870, 1909, 1976, 1989, and so on. One of the more important revisions made was in 1989, where photographers were given economic rights similar to everywhere in the developing world.9
Copyright and authorship have a long and extensive history dating all of the way back to 1557 in England, UK.8 However, this sense of copyright law was reconfigured into a permanent monopoly over the publishing of maps and books. What can be seen as
As we transition into the modern age, copyrights have grown more and more difficult. With mediums straddling the use of others’ work in the creation of one’s original artwork, where does the ownership belong? As the digital era continues to urge on and we see post-digital work emerging, a reevaluation of the modern-day copyright is needed. Work created through the digital is being taken from one source, modified through whatever means deemed necessary, and is then displayed over a technological device. Within these different operations and events, there are multiple players at work, however when it comes down to copyright – ownership – the ‘artist’ takes all of the credit. Even though the means of collection, manipulation, and presentation we take through the digital, there are no attempts to give credit to the main player – the digital.
7 Vierkant, The Image Object Post-Internet.
9 “A Brief History of Copyright,” ASMP.
HISTORY OF AUTHORSHIP.
8 “A Brief History of Copyright,” ASMP, accessed April 24, 2020, https://www.asmp.org/copyright-tutorial/briefhistory-copyright/.
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“AI already outperforms us and outsmarts us in plenty of cases, and AI can already solve many problems that could not be solved in any other way.” Excerpt from “The Alternative Scince of Computation” by Mario Carpo
DABBLING IN THE DIGITAL. Aesthetically, there has been a massive swing in the way artwork is created, presented, and curated. Since the dawn of the computer, there have been many trends in methods of synthesizing technology in a recognizable form. For example, the category of artwork that was created during the digital era was ‘glitch’ artwork, manually changing the data of an image file, a concept defined as ‘databending’.10 Another example of a more modern work of art is ‘Emissaries’, an artificial intelligence (AI) driven simulator creating, living, and destroying multiple different world scapes. As described by Cheng, “the works are comprised of computer-generated simulations like those used in predictive technologies for complex scenarios such as climate change or elections.”11 A similarity between both of these works is the combination of human cognition and machine cognition. During the uprising of computers in the early 2000s, it was thought that human cognition and machine cognition were equal – performing at the same degree and level. Modern-day understanding says
10 Duncan Geere, “Glitch Art Created by ‘Databending,’” accessed April 24, 2020, http://www.wired.co.uk/article/ glitch-art-databending. 11 “Ian Cheng: Emissaries: MoMA,” The Museum of Modern Art, accessed April 24, 2020, https://www.moma. org/calendar/exhibitions/3656
otherwise and speaks to the fact that machine cognition is not only faster than human cognition, it also has a larger capacity. Mario Carpo speaks to this fact in e-flux Architecture’s ‘The Alternative Science of Computation’ when he states that “AI already outperforms us and outsmarts us in plenty of cases, and AI can already solve many problems that could not be solved in any other way.”12 As artists and creators continue to take on the endeavor of creating through digital means, there will always be a second player that is smarter, faster, and more capable than the artist themselves.
COLLECTING. NOT COPYING. The most recent struggles that have been faced regarding post-digital work is the curation and collection of said work by collection agencies around the world. Museums around the world are adept with technology, evolving with times, and keeping up-to-date with the facilitation that technology brings. In contrast to this, however, the means of collecting work is archaic and out-dated. For all of the work being
12 Mario Carpo, “The Alternative Science of Computation,” e-flux, accessed April 24, 2020, https://www.e-flux.com/ architecture/artificial-labor/142274/the-alternativescience-of-computation/ 13 “When ‘Digital’ Meets Collection: How Do (Traditional) Museums Manage?,” MuseumNext, December 23, 2019, https://www.museumnext.com/article/when-digitalmeets-collection-how-do-traditional-museums-manage/
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Databending by Tobias Løfgren [2018-] (https://tobloef.com/fun/glitch-art)
HT2201 - Ownership of the Post-Digital
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Emmisairy Trilogy [2015-2017] (https://www.cobosocial.com/dossiers/ian-cheng-between-human-and-non-human/)
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HT2201 - Ownership of the Post-Digital
For these very traditional media, we know what that means (low light; limited handling; stable environment). What happens when the ‘digital’ becomes part of our collections?” Excerpt from “The Alternative Scince of Computation” by Mario Carpo
collected, a majority is of what can be classified as traditional work; created out of wood, stone, marble, linen, canvas, paper, etc.13 “For these very traditional media, we know what that means (low light; limited handling; stable environment). What happens when the ‘digital’ becomes part of our collections?” As simple of a question as this, it holds a lot of weight in the thought that for the past hundreds of years, the artwork has been produced mainly physically. Now, with the introduction of the digital, work is no longer held to those physical bounds, rather it is almost urged to explore the capabilities of this novel technology. When collecting these newly made pieces, something has to be made very clear: museums must collect the artwork, not copy it. Collecting the artwork cannot be recreating the work through another, more accessible means. While the AI-driven multi-verse created by Ian Cheng is very easy to photograph and replicate in means of a video, that cannot be the mode of collecting since it is a replication of the original, a copy.14 To properly showcase the work, the apparatus used to create the means is necessary, let it be a gaming console, computer, or some other technological device. New methods must be explored, reused, or invented to be able to properly utilize the digital
14 “Ian Cheng: Emissaries: MoMA,” The Museum of Modern Art, accessed April 24, 2020, https://www.moma. org/calendar/exhibitions/3656
technologies used to properly collect, curate, and display the work of the post-digital era.
POST-DIGITAL OWNERSHIP. Post-digital ownership is found in the importance placed in the necessary device used to create the work of the 2020s. Copyrighting is a means of giving ownership or authorship to the original creators – a process that since now has worked. However, with the evolution of the digital era, a new methodology is necessary, in which true ownership and dividends are given out to all stakeholders. Without the digital, the work of the present would not be possible, or even feasible. Even if it were created without the crutch of the digital, means of representation and presentation would not be capable. Every step along the way, digital is an equal player. If this is a known fact about the work of the present, why is the digital not an equal owner and author in the work? Artists and creators of the present must recognize the fact that there is no such thing as single created work of the digital. Unknowing plagiarism of the digital in the past must be reverted into giving the digital equal share in the work it has allowed humans to create in the present day of the post-digital era.
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ENDNOTES 1 Florian Cramer, Postdigital Aesthetics: Art Computation and Design (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 14. 2 Mark Foster Gage, Aesthetics Equals Politics: New Discourses across Art, Architecture, and Philosophy (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2019) 103. 3 Mark Foster Gage, Aesthetics Equals Politics: New Discourses across Art, Architecture, and Philosophy, 107. 4 Greg Lynn, Animate Form (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999). 5 Mark Foster Gage, 107. 6 David Ruy, “Returning to (Strange) Objects,” Tarp (Spring 2012): 38-42 7 Vierkant, The Image Object Post-Internet. 8 “A Brief History of Copyright,” ASMP, accessed April 24, 2020, https://www.asmp.org/copyright-tutorial/briefhistory-copyright/. 9 “A Brief History of Copyright,” ASMP. 10 Duncan Geere, “Glitch Art Created by ‘Databending,’” accessed April 24, 2020, http://www.wired.co.uk/article/ glitch-art-databending. 11 “Ian Cheng: Emissaries: MoMA,” The Museum of Modern Art, accessed April 24, 2020, https://www.moma. org/calendar/exhibitions/3656
12 Mario Carpo, “The Alternative Science of Computation,” e-flux, accessed April 24, 2020, https://www.e-flux.com/ architecture/artificial-labor/142274/the-alternativescience-of-computation/ 13 “When ‘Digital’ Meets Collection: How Do (Traditional) Museums Manage?,” MuseumNext, December 23, 2019, https://www.museumnext.com/article/when-digitalmeets-collection-how-do-traditional-museums-manage/ 14 “Ian Cheng: Emissaries: MoMA,” The Museum of Modern Art, accessed April 24, 2020, https://www.moma. org/calendar/exhibitions/3656
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AFTER IMAGES
GROUNDING IN CHARACTER / DIVISIONAL COLLABORATION Class: Semester: Instructor: Collaborator:
2GAX (DS1200) Fall 2019 Marcelyn Gow Devangi Kansagra
Broken into two parts, this semester was composed as a form-finding exploration through the use of photogrammetry. Part one consisted of the collection of photos within the context of ChinaTown, Los Angeles (the future site of Divisional Collaboration). Images were then run through photogrammetry software to output geometry which was then combined to create three-dimensional objects. Through other processes, the objects were manually curated through the addition of colored resin as well as a vac-formed landscape. These objects marked the end of project one and were used as a launching point into the second phase of the project: space making. My partner, Devangi Kansagra, and I utilized the previous collection of objects to create the massing of a
re-envisioned 40,000 square foot co-working space. With our mindset occupied by the theory of post-human design, our building massing was split into two: human-centric spaces and non-human spaces. This division ran deep through the project - ushering in the labyrinth style circulation pattern as well as the vibrant vs. sterile material patterned facades. The goal of Divisional Collaboration was to illuminate the future of post-human architecture and offer a precedent where there can be harmony between the different types of life forms. The future is an uncharted territory where anything is on the table - Divisional Collaboration offers insight into what it might look like.
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DS1200 - Divisional Collaboration
GROUNDING IN CHARACTER
Grounding in Character’s goal was to create a vacuum-formed landscape along with three 3D printed objects resting into it. These three objects were curated through photogrammetry scans of Chinatown - anything from a door handle to a building facade. In order to blur the recognizability of the original scans, the process of resin dipping was utilized to create
a film over the objects. For this process, three layers of resin were poured, in between each was speckled spray paint, allowing each object to hold their own color. Through this entire process, each object gained its own personal qualities and characteristics allowing them to stand on their own pedestal on top of the landscape.
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35mm film perspectival photographs depicting relationships between objects and landscape
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35mm film elevational photograph highlighting the characters created through the objects and the condition in which they meet the vacuum-formed landscape
“Rather than finding orientation by way of images in the real world, today images may mutate into a sort of interface—an operational tool reaching beyond visual—cognitive persuasions, beyond representation, beyond “the image” itself, enabling seemingly boundless and borderless mobility between spaces, scales, temporalities.” Excerpt from DS1200 GAX Design 2019 Studio Syllabus by Tom Holert & Doreen Mende
DS1200 - Divisional Collaboration
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DS1200 - Divisional Collaboration
DIVISIONAL COLLABORATION
Perspectival views highlighting the characteristics of the building form’s facade and courtyard
Divisional Collaboration was influenced by the OOO movement as well as the concept of posthumanism. The overall 40,000 square-foot form consists of hollow orthographic shapes in combination with spherical shapes. The two distinctive shapes are also characteristic of types of visitors of the co-working space: human and non-human forms. Circulation
is found located in the vertical labyrinth of floor plates that are scattered throughout all shapes allowing all forms to circulate. Lastly, the texturing and window treatment is based on the visitors of the specific forms - complex bright texture for human spaces and sterile blank texture for non-human spaces.
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South-East streetview of non-human retail space topped with private office spaces
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Axonometric view taken from the North-Eastern vantage point
DS1200 - Divisional Collaboration
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Northern elevation peering into the inner courtyard highlighting the expression of the vertical circulation
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DS1200 - Divisional Collaboration
“The studio After Images questions the contemporary status of the image in architecture. Images permeate our daily interactions, whether mundane or extraordinary, and our engagement with and through them exerts unprecedented pressure on architecture’s historical identity as the locus of the real. The stability and immutability of Vitruvian firmitas has effervesced into innumerous bits of data that congeal in myriad forms to comprise, describe and construct various aspects of our environment.” Excerpt from DS1200 GAX Design 2019 Studio Syllabus
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Bird’s eye perspective view into the courtyard space as well as vertical circulation
Stree level view into the courtyard as well as vertical circulation
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DS1200 - Divisional Collaboration
Third floor-plan highlighting the vertical labyrinth floorplates expressed throughout the building
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Northern section highlighting the tiered floorplates as well as the exterior farmer’s market space below
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DS1200 - Divisional Collaboration
Sectional model illustrating sectional drawing in three-dimensional space
Physical model with augmented reality iPhone app overlay to highlight the building textures
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White 3D printed sectional physical model placed in a black one block context
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DS1200 - Divisional Collaboration
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SLICE IT!
OPERATION OF CONTOURS / THE RETRO KALEIDOSCOPE Class: Semester: Instructors: Collaborator:
Visual Studies Fall 2019 Andrea Cadioli Curime Batliner Peter Kluzak
Slice It! is a culmination of multiple mediums and two physical installments. The semester is started with work in Rhino utilizing Grasshopper to work with contours. The contours were created from sections through boolean primitives. By changing the colors and thicknesses of the contours, different expressions and attitudes were created. By tracking this contouring, the midterm’s animation was created illustrating the relationships between the contours, primitives, colors, and thicknesses. Progressing, the robot lab was utilized to be able to bring the contours in a different direction. A process of layering images through a single panel was created by the Stäubli TX40 laboratory robot. An edited hexagonal shape was selected by my
partner and me in order to allow the panel to repeat in a productive manner. Pulling from the previously created contours, the texture of the panel was taken from a single frame of the original animation. In order to create depth, reflection, and hierarchy, layers of canvas and plexiglass were stacked to allow for folding and imperfections to surface - this created visual interest in the repeated final panel composite. Once a final composite was selected and edited, operative actions were used in order to create the final Retro kaleidoscope pattern. By translating the final panel composition into a repeatable pattern, the texture was able to be printed onto a column for the final installation.
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VS4200 - Contours
OPERATION OF CONTOURS
Contours focused on the two-dimensional qualities of linework and figures. Through the simple operative act of a section, linework can be created which gives way to expression and attitude. ALastly, an obstructive stark white linework was added to the widely known
hashtag (#) sign projected onto the original boolean primitive forms. With all of these different qualities compiled, a stance can be taken on the rotation of the forms to create the final animation. With all of these characteristics in mind, the final animation was created.
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VS4200 - Contours
The midterm installment consisted of two types of large format stickers and a digital animation. One type of stickers were mounted to MDF and then mounted to the wall, while the other was mounted to the floor of the gallery. Overlayed over the stickers was a digital stimulating projection. Lastly, the animation was played on a mounted monitor in the center.
Large format wall stickers of the entire studio pinned up coordinated with the projections
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Midterm installment of ‘Slice It!’ using two types of stickers on walls and floors along with a digital animation
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VS4200 - Contours
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Midterm installment of ‘Slice It!’ highlighting the immersive characteristics and variety in the mediums used in the project gallery installment
“Playing in the game of part to whole, the course looks at the potential of a gestural cut as a device for the production of dualities in an ontologically weak system. Concepts on inside/out, open/close, right/ wrong are challenged in a surface in continuous evolution in between opposing identities.” Excerpt from VS4200 2019 Syllabus
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VS4200 - The Retro Kaleidoscope
THE RETRO KALEIDOSCOPE
Visualization of the robot and how it patterns the panel and how the panel reacts to the robotic movements
Through the inclusion of the Stäubli TX40 laboratory robot with the work previously done in Contours, the Retro Kaleidoscope was created. Creating the panel for the entire project, multiple contour designs were reused along with laser-cut plexiglass in order to create dimensionality and hierarchy. By allowing the robot to control the depth,
orientation, and rotation of the panel, the result is seemingly random. Aspects of imperfections can be found when the panel tilts and canvas falls, or when light reflects off of the plexiglass. Rather than not allow for these moments, we cherished them, allowing them to speak to visual accents within the final patterned column installation.
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1/4” Flat Head Screws
Laser Cut 1/2” Acrylic
Slice It! Canvas Print #3
Slice It! Canvas Print #2
Slice It! Canvas Print #1
1/4” Threading Inserts
CNC Milled MDF Panel (Hex Shape)
1/4” Threading Inserts 3D Printed Male Robot Mount
1/4” Flat Head Screws
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VS4200 - The Retro Kaleidoscope
Final installment of the textured columns and visualization of how the patterns work with eachother
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“Following the contemporary explorations of the 2.5D canvas in the post-digital area, the project investigates the architectural facade as a space of multiplicities and singularity, deeply public and in an infinite state of fluctuation.� Excerpt from VS4200 2019 Syllabus
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VS4200 - The Retro Kaleidoscope
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www.art-critique.com
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ADVANCED MATERIALS AND TECTONICS
L.U.M.A. ARLES REIMAGINED Class: Semester: Instructors: Collaborators:
Materials and Tectonics Fall 2019 Randy Jefferson Maxi Spina Peter Kluzak Hannah Mann Alex Lewis
L.U.M.A. Arles, located in Arles France and designed by Frank Gehry Architects, is a cultural center dedicated to providing artists with opportunities to experiment in the production and presentation of new work in close collaboration with other artists, curators, scientists, innovators, and audiences. Within Advanced Materials and Tectonics, a harsh eye will be taken towards the overall design consideration of the facade members. The first half of the semester was spent as a research phase, learning about the overall construction methods used to create such a highly complex form while maintaining the architectural standards of an ordinary building. During this phase, an in-depth three-
dimensional model was constructed in order to create orthographic and axonometric captivating line drawings that exemplify the craftsmanship within the architecture. The second half of the semester was spent creating an alteration to the original L.U.M.A. form. With a vast knowledge of the building as constructed, all team members worked in collaboration to redesign the facade system to a radically different state in order to rethink the possibilities of the building. Overall, Advanced Materials and Tectonics was a class that tested the skills of research and the performance of creating highly detailed captivating two-dimensional line drawings.
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AS3200 - L.U.M.A. Arles Reimagined
L.U.M.A. ARLES TODAY L.U.M.A.’s complex and ridiculous form can be distilled down into six main components when you look at it through a structural architectural lens. When looking at the building as a whole, there is a main shear wall support structure in which the floorplate structure and vertical primary structure are linked up to. Lastly, the weather barrier metal membrane is attached
to the floor plate structure to seal the building up. This process is done through prefabrication, where chunks of the facade are built at a time and finalized on-site. For purely aesthetic reasons, oil-canned stainless steel block units are then attached to the membrane through a place and lock system which completes the overall look of L.U.M.A. Arles.
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S1 - Shear Wall Structure
S2 - Interior Membrane Structure
S3 - Floorplate Structure
S4 - Horizontal Primary Structure
S5 - Attrium Structure
S6 - Verticle Primary Structure
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AS3200 - L.U.M.A. Arles Reimagined
Structural chunk model illustration the different types of structural members located within the building in order to create the architectural aesthetic of L.U.M.A. Arles
“The first stage of the Luma Arles architectural project is “[t]o develop a cultural platform that guarantees maximum flexibility for research and artistic production. It will house archives, exibition and presentation spaces, seminar rooms, and a cafe/ restaurant.” Excerpt from luma-arles.org
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S1 - Shear Wall Structure Reinforced cast-in-place concrete Precast concrete
S2 - Interior Membrane Structure Galvanized pre-formed steel panels S3 - Floorplate Structure Cast-in-place concrete Corrugated metal decking Edge condition pour stop
S4 - Horizontal Primary Structure W-section beam
S5 - Attrium Structure W-Section covered beam 500mm square tube beam
S6 - Verticle Primary Structure 400mm dia. pipe column
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AS3200 - L.U.M.A. Arles Reimagined
L.U.M.A. ARLES REIMAGINED When tasked with reimagining the overall envelope system of L.U.M.A., we found an overall interest in the oil-canned stainless steel block units as well as the window boxes. These two aspects of the building are what gives it the overall “Gehry signature�. When stripping these away, we decided to create a double curtain wall diamond system that is interlaced
with PTFE or ETFE pillows. Replacing the window boxes, we decided to use ETFE and light gauge aluminum framing to create a well in the curtain wall where visitors can have the ability to see outside. Overall, The reimagining of L.U.M.A. was performed in a manner to make people think of the possibilities of envelope systems using the guidelines set out by Gehry.
Curtain Wall Structure Aluminum Profile
Verticle 400mm dia. Pipe Column PTFE Membrane
A2 Cast-in-Place Concrete Finished Pour Light Gage Metal Framing
Corrugated Metal Decking Gypsum Board
Double Pane Atrium Glazing
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Wet Set Double Pane Vision Glass
Verticle 400mm dia. Pipe Column Spandrel Glass Metal Fascia
Cast-in-Place Concrete Finished Pour
A1
Light Gage Metal Framing
Corrugated Metal Decking Gypsum Board Double Pane Atrium Glazing Oil Canned Stainless Steel Block Unit
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A2.1 - Window Box Flashing Aluminum Profile Light Gauge Metal Framing Steel Peg Joint Moints
A2.2 - Window Box Glazing PTFE Translucent Glazing ETFE Transparent Vision Glazing
A2.3 - Window Box Structure W-Section Beam Vertical 400mm dia. Pipe Aluminum Profile Interior/ExteriorPipe Steel Support
A2.4 - Window Box Full Composite Structure Glazing Flashing
AS3200 - L.U.M.A. Arles Reimagined
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A1.1 - Window Box Flashing Metal Fascia Steel Flashing
A1.2 - Window Box Glazing Wet Set Double Pane Vision Glass Spandrel Glass Pivot Vision glass
A1.3 - Window Box Structure W-Section Beam Vertical 400mm dia. Pipe Window Wall Frame
A1.4 - Window Box Full Composite Structure Glazing Flashing
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Metal Flashing Metal Fascia
Wet Set Double Pane Vision Glass
Primary Vertical 400mm dia. Pipe Structure
Window Wall Frame PEX Tubing Corrugated Metal Decking Rigid Insulation (Thermal Break)
Spandrel Glass Oil Canned Stainless Steel Block Unit
Light Gauge Metal Framing
Circular Drum Attrium Glazing
Finished Cast-in-Place Concrete Pour Light Gauge Metal Framing
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L.U.M.A. Alres chunk model highlighting the different components found within the floorplates, window boxes, and aesthetic wall components
“Gehry's design for the facade is supposed to echo the craggy rock formations found near the city, the same kind that inspired sometimeresident Vincent van Gogh to paint them in 1888. Inside, a vast circular atrium will recall the Roman amphitheatre in Arles, part of the city’s designated UNESCO World Heritage site.” Excerpts from dezeen.com
www.spectator.co.uk
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THEORIES OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE I
TECHNOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURE EVOLUTION WITHIN WORLD MAKING Class: Semester: Instructors:
Theories of Architecture Fall 2019 Marcelyn Gow John Cooper
As technology continues to adapt, evolve, and grow faster than ever recorded before, we as architecture find ourselves at an unprecedented point in time. How do we chart the growth that is happening before our eyes to ensure the greatest success in the future? How do we learn from past generations to create the best future, not only for ourselves but for generations to come? As time continues to march forward, the concept of Worldmaking is starting to make a larger and larger impact on the lives of the human population. Through the dissection, understanding, and confirmation of a method to execute in terms of Worldmaking, we may alter the future dramatically. In this writing, the works of Rania
Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy, Liam Young, and Jennifer Gabrys are brought into discussion due to their nature. By interrogating the works on the frontline of this technological revolution, the plan to update the path of evolution can be curated. On the other hand, we must also dissect the work being performed by architects and designers alike and gain an understanding of if it is up to the standards necessary to create the needed change. In the end, we must ask ourselves one question: is the development of technology contributing to the development of thought within the realm of worldmaking, or are architects and designers not reaching the level of execution needed for the present day?
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HT2200 - Technological Architecture Evolution Within World Making
TECHNOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURE EVOLUTION WITHIN WORLD MAKING
ABSTRACT
W
ithin the world we live in today, industries are fueled by the neverending evolution of technology. With product expected delivered quicker than ever before, at a level of quality higher than ever before, at a cost lower than ever before, industries are left with the choice to evolve or die. This viewpoint has a direct translation to a conversation held within architecture in the present day. In the present day, there have been many transitions architects and designers alike have had to endure in order to meet the needs of a consumer. Many of these transitions consist of the methods in which they create their products; computer programs, modeling techniques, etc. These technological advancements have caused a major change to occur within a specific topic within architecture: Worldmaking. A concept based on the creation of alternate universes and or worlds, Worldmaking was created and adopted by philosopher Henry Nelson Goodman during the beginning of the twentieth century.1 Within architecture and design, worldmaking holds a very significant presence, allowing people to discover, research, and design with concepts that are within or beyond the definitions of the world that we live in. Before Goodman set a specific 1 Daniel Cohnitz and Marcus Rossberg, “Nelson Goodman,� Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Stanford University, March 25, 2019), https://plato.stanford.edu/ entries/goodman/.
definition of worldmaking, giving the concept of worldmaking a foundation to stand on, architects and designers used methodologies that are still used to deal with problems that the concept erects. With a synonymous methodology of dealing with issues pertaining to worldmaking throughout time, it is a question if technological advancements in architecture will cause a shift in dealing with issues pertaining to the concept. To deal with this question, three different texts have been selected to aid in the dissection of worldmaking as a concept: Geostories, Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy; Machine Landscapes, Liam Young, et al.; Ocean Sensing, Jennifer Gabrys. As architects and designers lead the frontier of worldmaking, it is a necessary action to question the process in which we generate the products of the future. Is the development of technology contributing to the development of thought within the realm of worldmaking, or are architects and designers not reaching the level of execution needed for the present day?
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“[T]he constraints on worldmaking are strict. We cannot just create things; predicates must be entrenched and thus there must be some close continuity with former versions.” Excerpt from “Nelson Goodman” by Cohnitz, Rossberg
W
ith technological advancement and evolution at an all-time high within the human existence, industries in all realms are feeling pressure and need to adapt and evolve. Architecture is an industry that can be found within this group, needing to adapt and evolve as technology does. When this evolution is taking place, however, it is a question if the tools and methodologies are the only things that are adapting rather than the method of thinking and perceiving the world around us. A very important concept to architecture and the world around us is the thought of Worldmaking, coined by philosopher Henry Nelson Goodman.2 This concept is derived from the creation of alternate universes and worlds alike or dislike to the earth, and curating the perceivable environment. In order to dive into the technological impacts on representation abilities and thought evolution, this text will dissect the literature of Geostories, Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy; Machine Landscapes, Liam Young et al.; Ocean Sensing, Jennifer Gabrys. These separate texts will aid in the dissection of a key question: has the evolution and advancement of technologyaided in the advancement of thought in accordance with the philosophical concept of Worldmaking?
2 Daniel Cohnitz and Marcus Rossberg, “Nelson Goodman,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Stanford University, March 25, 2019), https://plato.stanford.edu/ entries/goodman/.
TWO DIMENSIONAL MEDIA In order to delve into the question at hand, one must first have a deeper understanding of worldmaking as a philosophical concept. Henry Nelson Goodman introduced the concept during the twentieth century as the ability to create worlds or alternate universes. Along with this concept are a set of guidelines that give the philosophical concept a foundation to stand on. Goodman highlights these guidelines by stating that “the constraints on worldmaking are strict. We cannot just create things; predicates must be entrenched and thus there must be some close continuity with former versions. Simplicity will keep us from creating new things from scratch, coherence from making anything in conflict with beliefs with higher initial credibility, and so on.”3 Throughout architecture and design history, many different artists have created worldmaking platforms through the inclusion of multiple types of media, from still canvas paintings to artificial intelligence-driven storylines. On this basis of understanding, the question of if the technological advancements of the modern era have had a positive impact on not only the production on worlds and alternate universes but also the thought processes going into them.
3 Daniel Cohnitz and Marcus Rossberg, “Nelson Goodman,” (Stanford University, March 25, 2019).
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WORLDMAKING By examining different styles of media used to illustrate concepts pertaining to Worldmaking a better understanding can be made. First, by examining work produced by Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy in Geostories, an understanding of the capabilities that two-dimensional drawings have in regard to the concept can be created. In general, Geostories positions itself offering a worldmaking solution to the climate change threat that humans find themselves in. As stated by Ghosn and Jazairy, “Geostories springs from the conviction that climate change demands urgent transformations in the ways we care for and design the Earth, moving away from visual rhetoric of crisis that aestheticizes calamity. Geostories offers a new approach to evidentiary visual production, a matter of great urgency at a time when climate change skeptics have such an influence on public opinion.”4 The message behind the book is extremely impactful and then the method in which the authors create their own design solutions is even more enticing. Each solution is its own designed world, where what is perceived as impossible on earth is not only possible but expected. For example, three distinct worlds that the authors designed were titled “Marine Landfills”, “Iron Towers”, and “Medusa Maze”.5
HT2200 - Technological Architecture Evolution Within World Making
Each of these designs tackles a problem of its own that we as humans are dealing with in the reaction of a world where there are no limits. With the use of text and two-dimensional drawings to convey their design intentions, Geostories does an incredible job at creating an environment that illustrates the concept of Worldmaking. With a very specific design intent in mind, the very simplistic media choice was not limited in how they demonstrated the philosophical concept.
EVOLVING MEDIA Changing the use of media by designers in order to convey their concepts shows an adaptation with technology. An artist and designer than portrays this adaptation is Ian Cheng, the creator of Emissaries - A Trilogy of Simulations. Cheng states that Emissaries “is composed of three interconnected episodes that each model a pivotal moment in the ongoing story of cognitive evolution, past and future.”6 Each episode is a finite creation of a world that is driven by hard code written by Cheng, as well as artificially create pieces that are self-driving. This artificial intelligence piece of the world leads to a certain level of unpredictability, lending itself to a little more
4 Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy, Geostories Another Architecture for the Environment (Barcelona: ACTAR, 2018), pages 11.
6 Liam Young et al., Machine Landscapes: Architectures of the Post-Anthropocene (Oxford: John Wiley & Sons, 2019) Pages 121.
5 Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy, Geostories Another Architecture for the Environment (Barcelona: ACTAR, 2018), pages 110-112.
7 YouTube (YouTube), accessed November 28, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO6Luilc4Bo
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Emissary Trilogy [2015-2017] (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk)
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Pacific Cemetery [1/3] Space Junk Island (http://dimensionsofcitizenship.org/participants/design-earth/index.html)
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realistic outcome. The process of creating this type of world is quite involved with cutting edge technology which only a handful of designers know let alone understand. Through the combination of creative thinking of the ideation of the three different episodes, a design platform such as Unity, and a coding skillset to frame out the artificial intelligence guidelines, Cheng was able to create Emissaries.7 In this rigorous workflow blooms an extremely immersive output which consumers can inhabit, understand, and live inside. Not only does this worldmaking speak the language of intent that Cheng wrote it with, but it also allows consumers to build their own imaginative ideas about what the world is about. In this platform, we can see the use of technology in a way that accentuates the desires of a designer and allows them to reach levels of performance that were not reached prior. Will this accessibility lead to malnourished topics of conversation and thought, or will it lead to new and inspirational ideas that continue to push the envelope of technology?
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CONNECTIONS Between the two examples stated above, there is a massive gap between the advancement of media used. In Geostories, we can see the use of pen and paper while in Emissaries, the use of artificial intelligence as well as a digital three-dimensional interface. The differences between these two examples can be debated, however, it is the outcome from their creations that matter. The relevance of their existence. Within the e-flux journal, Jennifer Gabrys opens up a conversation that is extremely interesting in regard to the relevance of world-making projects. Gabrys states that “World-ending is by now a pervasive topic. It is the default script written into the story of environmental change. Yet it is also a concept and event with a long history. Worlds are projected to end in the face of climate breakdown, with people displaced and dispossessed from melting landscapes and submerged communities. Worlds have also continually been ending, with settler colonialism, environmental racism,
“World-ending is by now a pervasive topic. It is the default script written into the story of environmental change. Yet it is also a concept and event with a long history. Excerpt from “Ocean Sensing” by Jennifer Gabrys
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Through the exhaustion of technological advancements and allowing those to push our methods of thinking, possibilities are endless and what we believe to be impossible today will be tomorrow’s reality.
and ecological exhaustion wreaking terminal destruction over the span of several centuries.”8 Gabrys illustrates the antonym of worldmaking and how it has been a part of our history as human beings and will continue to be a part of our future with climate change. It is in this concept that designers find the need to have significant relevance within their work. As we inch closer to what the future holds, we must utilize the opportunities that technological advancements give us and put it to use along with an evolving creative mindset in order to create the largest impact. As time continues to persist and march forward, architects and designers find themselves in a pool of technology evolving as fast as it is being produced. In this mass production of new methodologies and representations, are architects and designers becoming complacent with their mindset, or are they curating new methods of thought as technology is? To delve into this question, two separate and distinctively different projects were studied and examined in order to find a correlation between their work and creative mindset. These projects were Geostories, Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy; Machine Landscapes, Liam Young et al.; and Ocean Sensing, Jennifer Gabrys. Each of these examples dove into the concept of Worldmaking each in their own unique way, 8 Gabrys, Jennifer. “Ocean Sensing and Navigating the End of This World.” e-Flux #101 (June 2019). https:// www.e-flux.com/journal/101/272633/ocean-sensing-andnavigating-the-end-of-this-world/, Pages 2-3.
which offered fruitful research and comparison. In the end, it is drawn that the relevance of a creative mindset must always evolve and advance with technology. As we enter and live within the Anthropocene, we are witnessing never-before-seen events, living through extinctions in real-time. If we pause even for a second and do not advance, we will be killing ourselves. Malnutrition of though will be the downfall of the present day. However, through the exhaustion of technological advancements and allowing those to push our methods of thinking, possibilities are endless and what we believe to be impossible today will be tomorrow’s reality.
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ENDNOTES 1 Cohnitz, Daniel, and Marcus Rossberg. “Nelson Goodman.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University, March 25, 2019. https://plato.stanford.edu/ entries/goodman/. 2 Cohnitz, Daniel, and Marcus Rossberg. “Nelson Goodman.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University, March 25, 2019. https://plato.stanford.edu/ entries/goodman/. 3 Cohnitz, Daniel, and Marcus Rossberg. “Nelson Goodman.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University, March 25, 2019. https://plato.stanford.edu/ entries/goodman/. 4 Cohnitz, Daniel, and Marcus Rossberg. “Nelson Goodman.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University, March 25, 2019. https://plato.stanford.edu/ entries/goodman/. 5 Ghosn, Rania, and El Hadi Jazairy. Geostories Another Architecture for the Environment. Barcelona: ACTAR, 2018. 6 Young, Liam, Chris Perry, David L. Salomon, Kathy Velikov, Ian Cheng, Clare Lyster, Tim Maughan, et al. Machine Landscapes: Architectures of the PostAnthropocene. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons, 2019. 7 Young, Liam, Chris Perry, David L. Salomon, Kathy Velikov, Ian Cheng, Clare Lyster, Tim Maughan, et al. Machine Landscapes: Architectures of the PostAnthropocene. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons, 2019. 8 Jennifer Gabrys, “Ocean Sensing and Navigating the End of This World,” e-Flux #101 (June 2019), https:// www.e-flux.com/journal/101/272633/ocean-sensing-andnavigating-the-end-of-this-world/.
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INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL DESIGN
HOUSE OF HYPER POP Class: Semester: Instructor:
IDD Spring 2019 Rachael McCall
Introduction to Digital Design was my very first experience with SCI-Arc mesh modeling software alike. This high-speed bootcamp was a week-long seminar that took a deep dive into the inner workings of Maya as an architectural program, and Arnold as a means for rendering. Overall, the workshop was influenced by the work done by the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. His methods of using numerous bright colors within a single scene as well as creating many characters to repeat and fill the entire context was examined and repeated throughout the workshop. The dinosaur Murakami character was selected for my work which I then replicated in various material choices -- balloon, metal, chrome, ceramic. The scene is composed of three
window wells that are filled with different objects created throughout the entire week, ranging from the Murakami dinosaur, to simple tulips, and graphic cutouts. Creating movement between the window wells, a gold support system reaches out and holds the windows as well as creates a stand for the entire scene to sit. In the background, various aspects from Takashi Marukami were splattered in a diluted pink tone, creating a hierarchical background for the foreground objects to pull away from. Overall, this workshop was a great learning experience from me and an opportunity to learn at a fast pace, the skills that would be needed in the years to come.
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Back-of-House perspectival view through the CMYK beads draped over the background
I.D.D. - House of Hyper Pop
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Front-of-House perspectival view of Murikami replications and the context of the suspended window wells
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I.D.D. - House of Hyper Pop
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PHOTOGRAPHY
PERSONAL 35MM FILM PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography for me offers a new perspective and vantage point to see and experience from. Pushing this experience further, shooting on 35mm film breaks the tie that conventional digital photography has with post-processing and mass photo batches to retain a single photo. Film photography takes the viewer to the exact moment, allowing the environment to become exposed to the outside world that did not experience the original moment. Within my photos, I attempt to bring out the true
essence in the shot and allow the emotions happening before the camera to reverberate as long as the photo is around. Within the photos showcased in this portfolio, experiences have come and gone, and this serves as a visual collection of my memories. From an adventure to Lake Atitlรกn, Guatemala to first experiences at SCI-Arc to the location and time I proposed. As I progress in the means of photography, I aim to sharpen my craft and allow the viewer to enter into the photo taken.
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View of Lago de Atitlรกn peering towards Panajachel across the lake (December 2018)
Personal Photography - 35mm film
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Differing views of San Pedro La Laguna (January 2019)
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Personal Photography - 35mm film
View over Lago de Atitlán looking towards Volcán de Atitlán and Volcán San Pedro (January 2019)
“I like living, breathing better than working … my art is that of living. Each second, each breath is a work which is inscribed nowhere, which is neither visual nor cerebral, it’s a sort of constant euphoria.” Excerpt from Marcel Duchamp
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Personal Photography - 35mm film
Process modeling alongside the trusty Prusa printer (October 2019)
Midterm 2GAX pinup alongside peers work (October 2019)
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Midterm 2GAX pinup alongside peers work (October 2019)
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Views of and across Nicollet-Boom Island Bridge (August 2019)
Personal Photography - 35mm film
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View of Minneapolis skyline from Boom Island State Park (August 2019)
Š 2020 All rights reserved. No part of this book my be reproduced in any form without permission of copyright owner. Southern California Institure of Architecture